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Work

2010
Duration:
09' 00"
Instrumentation:
for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon
Contents:
I. Adagio
II. Molto calmo e sostenuto
III. Con forza (e senza delicatezza)
IV. Calmo
V. Energico ridiculoso
VI. Lontano e bizarro
VII. A cute little interlude
VIII. Turbulent, con rubato

Samples

application/pdf,81k Score (81k) Page 1 to 4 and 14 to 17© Alex Taylor

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Programme Note

eight pieces for wind quartet was inspired by Ligeti’s extraordinary, dramatic work Ten Pieces for Wind Quintet, and my eight pieces uses this work as a model, where movements alternate between slow-moving, cloud-like textures and jittery, virtuosic interjections. The fragments of melody are constantly reaching outwards, the tense, at times nightmarish, harmonic language constantly straining, edging towards the elusive octave. Within the twelve-tone framework I wanted to create as much diversity and flexibility as possible, always keeping a tension between motion and stasis. Each piece is a kind of elaboration of the same melodic idea, a blueprint that is constructed differently each time, like seemingly unrelated episodes in a dream. Below is a short poem that I think embodies the miniature nature of each piece and the work as a whole.

miniature

if a dream came to you
you might catch it, hold it,
sculpt from it an elaborate

memory, the husk of a rushed
feeling, the miniature
interior of a moment

- alex taylor

Commissioned:
Written for Ben Hoadley, for the New Zealand Music for Woodwind concert, April 7 2010
Difficulty:
Advanced

Performance History

World Premiere for P: eight pieces for wind quartet; Manghi, Liu, McGregor, Hoadley; 070410 07 Apr 2010 Performed by Luca Manghi (flute), Joy Liu (oboe), Anna McGregor (clarinet) and Ben Hoadley (bassoon) at the Music Theatre, University of Auckland, in Auckland
Anna McGregor    Ben Hoadley (Performer)

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